Penn & Teller: Bullshit!: Season Eight

Penn & Teller have been telling us who is full of shit (and who isn’t) for eight seasons now. With their trademark Libertarian skepticism in tow, the comedy team takes it to beloved left-leaning movements like eating organic and going green, while being equally critical of religion, the War on Drugs, and the Boy Scouts of America. The two are at their best when boldly doling out controversial opinions like their support of Wal-Mart despite widely discussed ethical concerns about the company, or calling the Vatican out for the copious amounts of bullshit that it dishes out, but are at their worst when using the show as an opportunity to grandstand about things like taxes or simply pointing out the obvious. Astrology is bullshit? No shit, Bullshit!

As abrasive, rude, and outlandish as Penn & Teller can be, though, the two retain a knack for structuring a solid argument that’s bolstered with boatloads of creative vulgarity and girls with giant, fake tits. Like previous seasons, the new season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! keeps a steady pace of taking on amusingly kooky and weightier topics in equal stride, with slated episodes on Area 51 and easy money schemes to pricklier ones like the criminal justice system, vaccinations, and old people. The season’s premiere, titled “Cheerleaders,” even takes a turn for the unexpected as Penn & Teller loudly stand behind the movement to make cheerleading an official sport in the face of disapproving feminists and corporate stooges out to drain as much money from eager young girls as possible.

The episode concentrates on the amazing fact that cheerleading isn’t considered a sport in many states despite an enormous amount of injuries and competitive meets to qualify it. Consequently, this means that many of America’s cheerleaders don’t have reliable health and safety standards to protect them from the slew of grotesque injuries that could befall them. For a sport that requires girls to do handsprings over a concrete track every Friday night, safety standards seem like they might be an important thing to have.

Penn & Teller make a strong case for the obvious in this episode, showing the dangers that go along with cheerleading with ample footage of cataclysmic 14-year-old girl avalanches, and countless girls being launched 15 feet into the air only to crash-land directly on their faces. They claim that the groups responsible for cheerleading’s exclusion as an official sport are Varsity Brands, Inc., which virtually controls the entire industry, and uptight feminists who think that cheerleading promotes negative gender stereotypes.

Penn & Teller’s argument against Varsity holds more water than their feminist bashing. Varsity controls 66 national cheerleading championships and would stand to lose millions in revenue if the sport were managed by the states, while their anger at feminists simply seems brash and unwarranted. They make abstract, unsupported claims that feminist groups target the institution of cheerleading simply because they don’t like it. They go so far as dragging the crustiest, spinster stereotype of a feminist on for an interview and even she doesn’t go to such extremes as to claim that cheerleading promotes negative gender roles. Still, the heart of the episode is in the right place, and it wouldn’t be Bullshit! without Penn & Teller pulling some bullshit of their own.

Regardless of whether the show’s politics fall in line with your own, the duo has a refreshingly frank take on the world and neither cares if their beliefs offend anyone’s precious sensibilities. At its core, the show seeks to unmask the wolves that are out to take advantage of others, regardless of left, right, or center, and Penn & Teller’s—well, just Penn’s—will to scream about how utterly full of shit someone is can be bizarrely cathartic. Even if the show sometimes slips into murky pseudo-scientific experiments and has a tendency to rely too heavily on supposed experts from the Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank that seems to pop in just about every episode, Bullshit! ultimately remains true to form: funny, well argued editorials that expose the crooks and liars of the modern world.

Airtime

Showtime, Thursdays at 10 p.m.

Cast

Penn Jillette, Teller

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I was so thrilled with Pen & Teller's Arguments against Wallmart Hatred:

1) Consumers short term interests are the most importaint thing in the universe and we must all reshape our world views to match the desire for low prices. No other considerations outweigh this.

2) Jobs in the abstract is much more importaint than jobs with context. Thus, there is no distinction between the economic productivity of jobs Wallmart destroys and the ones they create. . . . therefore. . Wallmart is a job creator and that is always productive.

3) Saving money at Wallmart means you can spend those savings on other things. . like more stuff at Wallmart because everyone else went out of business. . assholes. . .

4) Employees should always be grateful for having jobs. It could be worse. You could be a prostitute instead of working in a sweatshop. We could be spending public money on welfare rather than giving Wallmart tax breaks and building them special roads (see #2).

5) America worked it's way out of the sweatshop economy before globalization and free trade. . . these countries we exploit now will do the same. . . Meanwhile. . we need to stop expecting such high labor standards because it's bad for global competition. It also upsets customers(see#1).

Every now and then it's Pen & Teller who are full of shit. . . it's a byproduct of being a magician. Every now and then you bullshit yourself too. As long as everyone gets that the show is entertaining.

Posted by plisko on 2011-01-18 07:39:12

samm4545....I have to agree with Father Time...I \"did\" all - stars (I cheered for town, middle, high, and then private gym) last and they hide everything like all the facts about it until you get hurt and you need answers. thats when no one will give you the time of day. its to build self - esteem, dedication, determination and all that great stuff then you get hurt and they rip it away. They don\'t care about me, or you or anyone else. you don\'t have to believe it but it\'s the truth and they all stuck together so that is why when my parents questioned things and was never allowed to watch except at competitions, she thought they were rude, but it was because looking back now, we were like soldiers all doing as they say and we had to suck it up but thought all of that was sucking it up. I doubt the real sports that are regulated go through that. you and everyone else is just a number to them. the law needs to step in and change things. even with youth sports they are making it safer and they are regulated, what about us? ZIP! It wasn\'t our fault, we did as we were told, they did as they wanted. We were minors, they were adults, all trying for a trophy which was fun to get and it was fun to compete but not fun to have your life in their hands when they are not qualified. it\'s always as you look back. one day you will look back, hopefully before you get hurt and see the truth of what is going on. my parents wanted me to stop and i liked it, not the coaches and getting hurt a lot, but something about it i loved and i wonder if anyone can put a finger on what is so great about it than other sports, it was the only one i did and i wish today that i never did. laura is a trooper but i would be pissed if i were her. my parents called all of the people that gave out certifications and they just heard that they would bring it up at the next meeting, my dad wanted the coach tossed at first, and they said we aren\'t doing that right now. all they talk about it how safe it is, they just started a new safety campaign the day after the show and thats like #50 after i was hurt and still nothing have changed except they have courses online know to make it even easier. its more thing to take a course online but one that is so poor to begin with? just sad. the owner of varsity should rot in jail. they dont care and have never reported injuries. when you get hurt, dont call any of them to help you or to report to because they will pretend and never do anything with it. no one ever told us is was not regulated and the rules are fake or dont have to be listened to, since nothing will happen to the coaches or them. i think they left out a bunch of other companies they have too. they have shows and a few more clothing companies and other cheer companies that im not sure what they are for but i saw two they missed. im sure there is more. i wish i listened to my parents when i had the chance. go to a gymnastics gym and tell me if they train the same way. it\'s cruel what they have done for money.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-06-13 18:44:08

Safer than football according to who? You're doing flips in the air without any sort of guards or protection. I'm wondering if you ever actually watched the episode. They do talk about the positives of cheerleading (or at least their guests do), and they never even suggest that cheerleading go away just that it be made a sport so it could be safer.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-06-12 16:25:21

It\'s sad that famous people can get on T.V. with false information about a sport that is safer than football. Moreover, it goes to show that any idiot, or two idiots can take anything and make it appear to be bad, when you overinflate and never look at the positive aspects of a situation. Like scholarships, athleticism, leadership, teamwork, healthy competition and those are just the easy benefits to name related to cheerleading. Penn & Teller are a SAD SAD Commentary on what\'s wrong with America\'s over hyped, uber - sensationalized media.